When my partner, Bart Stuck, a seasoned MIT/Bell Labs mathematician and scientist, told me that Anita Pfluger had invited him to attend and judge the Beardsley Science Fair, it was clear that he was quietly delighted – and I think we were both surprised when I said, “Oh, that’s great! Can I come too?” – and he said, with eyebrows raised, “I don’t know, but I’ll ask.”
I didn’t want to be in the difficult position of choosing which exhibits were best, but I did want to see what they were up to and meet the fifth- and sixth-grade Bridgeport public school students who were sharing their projects.
I was so glad I went! A wonderful thing about Beardsley School is the diversity of its student body, reminding me happily of my own childhood experience in public schools in Brooklyn, New York. The kids and their projects were amazing! I was especially amazed at how open and welcoming the students were, and not at all the sullen adolescents that I kind of anticipated. They all made very open, direct, and confident eye contact, which I thought was surprisingly mature. There wasn’t one single student there who was withdrawn or resentful that I could see. Some were reserved and shy, but it was possible to draw them out simply by expressing interest in their projects and asking about them – then most of them were happy to open up and connect.
Most had chosen serious, thoughtful questions to explore, and all laid out their discovery process very methodically and clearly. Some looked to have more help from parents or older siblings than others, but most really did seem to have committed real effort and energy into how to present their results in a clear, consistent, and formulaic manner. They understood the purpose of not only learning about what they had observed, but also how to present it all in a coherent format. They were also very actively interested in one another’s work, and some even spoke up on behalf of their shy neighbors if they were more outspoken.
When I asked Bart if he remembered the three winning projects, he said: “They were all winners, they were all well done. Some seemed like they were done by parents, and they were neater, but the thought that went into all of them was very impressive.”
I was really moved toward the end of the time we had together, when the judges from TUUCW (Bart, Linda Brewster, Dorothy Rich, and Kathy Roberts) were conferring and reviewing all the work, I had gone to a quiet corner where I could still watch all the action, but also sit on my “Rollator” to rest up a bit (I have persistent balance issues and have trouble standing for very extended periods). Well, two of the more outgoing students came over to visit with me. The boy explained: “We saw you sitting here all by yourself, so we decided to come over and see if you’d like some company.” The girl also met my eyes very openly and simply smiled and nodded in agreement. It was clear they were good friends. “That’s very nice of both of you, thank you so much!” “If you’d rather be on your own–“ the boy started to offer, and I cut him off and said, “No, no, I really appreciate the company. That’s very kind of you both” and I was just amazed at how poised they both were and comfortable making conversation with this older, disabled woman.
I learned that they are appointed monitors, hand-selected to assist the professional security guards at times like these, at assemblies, etc. I commented that it seemed to me that the students were pretty calm for the most part, and happy to be there, and happy to participate in what was going on. They looked at each other and nodded in agreement, and said, “Yeah, pretty much”; “Yeah, usually, we are pretty happy here.” Then the boy couldn’t wait to tell me a story: “But there was this one time, it was an open-house, and everything was fine, and then somebody just really flipped out.” “Really?” I asked, intrigued, “What did you have to do?” He was proud of the dramatic moment, and explained, “Well, I didn’t do it, but the police were called.” “Oh wow,” I said, “that sounds pretty serious.” He nodded authoritatively, “Yeah, it had to be done. They just really – lost it.” After a pause, he enjoyed leaning in to tell me conspiratorially; “Yup. It was a parent.” “Oh, WOW!” I said, hoping to give him the full satisfaction of a real climax – which it was.
If that was my favorite conversation, my favorite exhibit was one created by a very quiet girl whose casual, off-handed demeanor impressed me as much as her project. Like several other experiments, hers was reporting on the changes involved in a process of Dissolution. Her project involved a lot of M&Ms in Styrofoam dishes of water. The side panels reported the set-up and parameters and the process, and the larger center panel dutifully displayed a series of step-by-step photos of the colors turning into streaking rainbows in various stages, eventually blending together into a rich chocolate brown as the candy coatings of all the M&Ms ultimately melted …
But here was what made the whole thing a piece of Conceptual Art as far as I was concerned: She had arranged all the M&Ms into a peace sign, and entitled the project:
SPREADING
PEACE
